1. University of Brighton
Complaints Procedure | A Guide for Complaint Investigators

2. The purpose of this presentation is to offer all Complaint Officers a quick-view guide to their role:
It will take roughly 10 minutes to read this PowerPoint and it is best viewed in presentation mode (i.e. please click through each slide using your direction arrows).
This guidance is designed to support all Complaint Officers from Stage 2 of the University’s Student Complaints Resolution Procedure.
Items covered will include; the extent of your role; how to go about your investigations; and what materials you will need to submit following your investigations.
E: | April 2019

3. When a Student Makes a Complaint:
Each student who wishes to make a complaint must first determine whether their complaint is either:
An Academic Appeal or
A Formal Complaint
In either instance, the student may wish to seek support from the Students’ Union (Union Support). 
E: | April 2019

4. Academic Appeals – Overview:
A student may only request a review of the decision of an Examination Board on very specific grounds:
that a procedural irregularity in the assessment process led to a decision which was detrimental to the student
that the student had mitigating circumstances which the Examination Board could not be made aware of because the student had been unable (for valid reasons) to divulge them before the Examination Board reached its decision
that there was an arithmetical error in the student’s marks
For further information, please see here.
E: | April 2019

5. When the assistance of a Complaint Investigator is required:
Each student wishing to make an appeal may wish to take the opportunity to discuss their exam results with a Course Leader or Personal Tutor.
However, if the complaint is not an Academic Appeal, the student may wish to make a complaint to the Complaints Office (following an attempt at a Stage 1 Early Resolution within their own School).
As a designated Complaint Investigator, the Complaints Office may ask for your assistance at Stage 1, Stage 2, or Stage 3 of the Student Complaints Resolution Procedure.
E: | April 2019

6. Formal Complaints | An Overview:
A Stage 1 Early Resolution will not require for you to submit any written materials to the Complaints Office. This stage will be connected to a student from inside your own School and it may be that a resolution can be reached informally (we recommend that you convey the outcome to the student via ). Please ensure that authorisation has been secured from your HoS for any proposed financial resolution (and the relevant course leader for other outcomes, where necessary).
A Stage 2 Formal Complaint requires for the student to submit a Stage 2 form to the Complaints Office and (should the complaint match certain criteria) the case will be assigned to a Complaint Investigator from outside their own School.
A Stage 3 Review requires for the student to submit a Stage 3 form to the Complaints Office and (should the complaint match certain criteria) the case will be assigned to a Complaint Investigator, again, from outside their own School.
Please note that, once all three stages of the University’s procedure have been completed, any student remaining dissatisfied with the outcome has the right to complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA), an independent body set up to review student complaints. You will not be involved in this stage.
E: | April 2019

7. About Stage 1& 2:
Where it is clear that an early resolution at Stage 1 is not appropriate (or possible) you will need to advise the student within 14 calendar days that an attempt at early resolution has been unsuccessful.
The student will then be permitted to submit a Stage 2 Complaint form to the Complaints Office:
At this point, you may be asked to act as a Complaints Investigator for a student from outside of your own School.
You will need to build as clear a picture as possible surrounding the complaint and submit a written report to the Complaints Office.
The Complaints Office will give you as much support as you feel you need during this process (even providing you with a Toolkit of resources).
E: | April 2019

8. Stage 2 Formal Complaint – Possible Outcomes:
All relevant parties connected to complaint are interviewed before submission of Outcome Report to Complaints Office
Student submits Stage 2 Formal Complaint to Complaints Office
The complaint is NOT UPHELD
The complaint is UPHELD or PARTIALLY UPHELD
E: | April 2019

9. Rounding Off:
Your investigations connected to this case will have come to an end, even if the student is not happy with its outcome(s).
Please note that you may be asked to act as Complaint Investigator in connection to a Stage 3 Complaint. However, the process will essentially be the same as for Stage 2.
Even if student feels that the outcome of their Stage 2 or Stage 3 Complaint was unfair, your role in this process will have come to an end.
E: | April 2019

10. For further queries on the procedure or the content of this guide, please contact:
Complaints Office
Nicholas Teasdale OR
Governance Officer
E: | April 2019 | Mary-Louise Aitken 2019